Woods, who has won the tournament a record seven times and is the only two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, made key par saves on the front nine and then stormed into the lead with a birdie on 15 and an eagle on 16 during Saturday's third round. Woods, who can become world No. 1 for the first time in 29 months with a victory, fired a stellar 6-under-par 66 to reach 11-under-par 205 and leads Rickie Fowler (67), John Huh (71) and Justin Rose (72) by two shots.

And when Woods has the lead, it's all but over. He has had the 54-hole outright lead 43 times. He has converted those into 41 victories.

"Well, I enjoy (being in the lead)," said Woods, who claimed victory No. 75 at Torrey Pines in February and No. 76 at Doral earlier this month. "That's why we play, is to be in this position. It's why I've spent all that time practicing and training is to be in this position.

"I have a chance to win (Sunday)."

So does Fowler, who will be paired in the final group with Woods. Fowler, who came home with his second consecutive 67 in the third round, has had some miserable pairings Woods. Last year in the final round at the Memorial, Fowler shot 84 while Woods fired 67 to win the tournament. Earlier this year at Torrey Pines, Fowler shot 77 in the first round with Woods, but came back with a 65 walking alongside Woods in the second round.

"After Memorial, I'm looking for a little redemption," Fowler said. "I'm feeling good about the pairing, about my game. He's definitely the guy to beat, but I'll be right there to see what's going on. With him having leads on courses he loves like this and Torrey Pines and Doral, and I'm sure there are others, he's basically never lost with a lead in the final round.

"So I'm going in there with the attitude that I have nothing to lose and we'll see what happens from there."

It won't be easy. Woods made just one bogey in the third round - on the par-4 13th when he hit a poor bunker shot. And he made five birdies and the eagle on 16. But par saves on No. 1, No. 5, No. 8 and No. 9 were just as important as any red number.

"I was just trying to make sure I didn't drop any shots today," Woods said. "I thought that was important to try to chase down the lead. I was four back starting out. I only dropped one shot today but made my share of birdies."

A lot had to do with his putting. Woods got a putting tip from Steve Stricker on the eve of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, and it was working from the start when Woods canned a 13-footer for par on No. 1.

"It was nice to make that putt on the very first hole just so I didn't have four straight bogeys, three from yesterday and one starting out today," said Woods, who needed only 25 putts, had 11 one-putt greens and leads the tournament with 15 made putts from more than 15 feet. "I made a nice putt there, and I putted pretty solid all day. I hit a lot of good shots, and had a couple poor drives here and there, but overall I was very pleased with the way I played today.

" ‚?¶ I hit a lot of good putts, especially when the wind started blowing. I was able to still hit the putts flush even though the wind was moving me around a little bit; it still was good. ‚?¶ I feel comfortable with the putts. I hit a lot of good ones. They were starting out on my lines. I'm very pleased with the way I've been putting, and I've hit a lot of good putts especially into the grain.

"You have to hit the putts flush and get them rolling, and I've been able to do that, even today when the wind started blowing. Obviously, tomorrow the forecast is it's supposed to really blow."

Yes, the weather. The third round dodged a major weather bullet when a storm front moved north of the home to Disney World. The forecast for the final round calls for 60% chance of rain and lightning, with winds expected to blow in the 25-30 mph range.

"I'm curious to see if we get any rain and what the conditions are going to be tomorrow, and I'll play it from there," Woods said.

Fowler won't mind if the wind blows.

"I'm striking the ball great right now and looking forward to playing in the wind. Hopefully, it does blow," Fowler said. "It makes it tough for everyone, but I feel like that's one of my favorite conditions to play in is the wind. I played two years at Oklahoma State. Obviously, some wind there. Where I grew up in Southern California, it would always blow in the afternoon, so just keep swinging well and have some fun.

"I just missed a couple close putts out there today. But other than that, hit the ball nicely, drove it well. I gave myself a lot of looks at birdies, so that's positive around this track. I'm feeling good after these last two days.

" ‚?¶ I've been playing well all year. ‚?¶My game's in a really good spot."

Rose was in a great spot after making an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole to take a two-shot lead - and a six-shot lead on Woods. But bogeys on 13, 14 and 17 dropped him back. He said his legs went out from under him when fatigue set in. He said he didn't know if it was something he ate, a bad night's sleep or he just ran out of gas for some other reason.

"The back nine was a shame, but today means nothing really until tomorrow plays out, so hopefully (Woods) doesn't go get hot and then today's just a memory," Rose said. "I'm going to go out there and try to play as good a round of golf as I can. I'm not going to think about who I'm competing against. It's going to be a day I'm going to need the putter to get hot. I've made too many bogeys the last two days, so I'll try to limit those mistakes and wait for the putter to get hot.

"I'm sure it's going to take something in the region of 67 to 64. I don't know. The weather could be really funky tomorrow, they say. So from that perspective, who knows?"